James I | |
---|---|
King of Aragon | |
Reign | 12 September 1213 – 27 July 1276 |
Predecessor | Peter II |
Successor | Peter III |
Born |
Montpellier |
2 February 1208
Died | 27 July 1276 Alzira, Valencia |
(aged 68)
Burial | Poblet Monastery |
Consort |
Eleanor of Castile Violant of Hungary Teresa Gil de Vidaure |
Issue among others... |
Violant, Queen of Castile Constance, Lady of Villena Peter III, King of Aragon James II, King of Majorca Isabella, Queen of France |
House | Barcelona |
Father | Peter II, King of Aragon |
Mother | Maria of Montpellier |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
James I the Conqueror (Catalan: Jaume el Conqueridor, Aragonese: Chaime lo Conqueridor, Occitan: Jacme lo Conquistaire, Spanish: Jaime el Conquistador; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 1276. His long reign -the longest of any Iberian monarch- saw the expansion of the House of Aragon in three directions: Languedoc to the north, the Balearic Islands to the south, and Valencia to the southwest. By a treaty with Louis IX of France, he wrested the county of Barcelona from nominal French suzerainty and integrated it into his crown. His part in the Reconquista was similar in Mediterranean Spain to that of his contemporary Ferdinand III of Castile in Andalusia.
As a legislator and organiser, he occupies a high place among the Spanish kings. James compiled the Llibre del Consolat de Mar, which governed maritime trade and helped establish Aragonese supremacy in the western Mediterranean. He was an important figure in the development of the Catalan language, sponsoring Catalan literature and writing a quasi-autobiographical chronicle of his reign: the Llibre dels fets.